What if your voice mail, faxes, e-mail and instant messages were
delivered to the same inbox? That would be a good thing-especially
if you could pick just the message types and interface you
wanted.

It's called unified messaging (UM) or unified communications
(UC), and it's not new. It has been tried for years with
limited success. That's going to change.

Researchers say spending on UC will increase by a factor of 10
by 2008, as the number of blended inboxes grows about 500 percent.
By then, says market research firm The Radicati Group, as many as
95 million folks worldwide will be able to pick up some combination
of messages from a universal inbox. By the way, that solves another
problem, adds Radicati market analyst Teney Takahashi: juggling
different address books.

The convenience and productivity benefits of a universal inbox
are obvious, but it's likely to develop in fits and starts. One
reason is that voice, fax and pages are still mostly analog forms.
The rapid uptake of cellular and VoIP networks that automatically
convert them into digital packets helps. So do other recent
improvements.

"In the past, network and device limitations have been a
key barrier," says Takahashi. "The increased bandwidth of
wireless networks and advanced functionality of mobile devices
create an ideal environment."

On the other hand, every day seems to bring a new messaging
option to integrate-different IM systems, e-mail forwarded to
handhelds, different combinations of voice mail, e-mail and SMS
text on handhelds. Each demands its own set of front-end clients,
back-end servers, operating systems and communication
protocols.

It helps to have end-to-end control, as IP-PBX vendors do. Avaya
blends voice mail and e-mail with text-to-speech software so
messages can be retrieved by any phone or computer. Also, broadband
internet connectivity is making it possible to house all inboxes on
some distant web server capable of high-volume message
processing.

Verizon's new iobi Home service combines voice mail, e-mail
and addresses accessible over a wireline or wireless phone, or an
internet-connected computer. Launched in New England, the
$8-per-month service is being rolled out nationwide and will be
joined by a business version, iobi Professional.

A similar new service from SBC Communications, called Unified Communications,
adds faxes and text-to-speech technology for listening to e-mails
and fax headers over the phone, or voice mails on your computer.
It's available in Southwestern states for $8 to $13 per month,
depending on your area and messaging options.

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